Gastronomy

Readers looking for a bake-and-tell White House memoir will be disappointed with this otherwise satisfying book. For the most part, Roland Mesnier's pastries take precedence over his presidents, although we learn a thing or two along the way about the five first families he served as pastry chef, beginning in the Carter administration. Just as well, for Mr. Mesnier, who retired in 2004, is at his best describing magic...